Current Resident
by fwingsnitch
Summary: Inspired by CherryBlankets's story, "Pranks". While Ash and Misty are in Petalvine City, Dawn and her friend Niles show up, and Niles manages to convince them all to come with him up to a supposedly haunted mansion. Full summary inside! AAML! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Inspired by CherryBlankets's story, "Pranks". While Ash and Misty are in Petalvine City, Dawn and her friend Niles show up, and Niles manages to convince them all to come with him up to a supposedly haunted mansion. But once inside, strange things begin to happen that make the group wonder if the house may actually be haunted. AAML! Review!  
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Hiya, guys! I'm back! Sorry it's been SOOOOOOO long since I last updated anything! I was vacation, and then I was sick, and then I had a bunch of school stuff…but, anyway, now I'm FINALLY getting back to writing, and this time it's a new story! Hooray!

So, a little bit about this story: as mentioned in the summary, it was inspired by "Pranks", a great story by CherryBlankets. Also, one or two of the scenes I'm planning were inspired by bits of the trailer for "1408", a horror movie based off of a Stephen King story.

Also, it is a sequel to a non-existent re-write. I know that sounds really weird, and it is. This is a sequel to a re-write of "Artie Ketchum" which I will probably never make. By the way, DO NOT READ "Artie Ketchum". I repeat, DO NOT READ IT! THAT WAS THE WORST STORY EVER!!! It is not AT ALL necessary that you read that story, and I HIGHLY suggest you do not. It is my worst story ever, and I probably should have removed it by now.

Anyway, all you need to know about the re-write/original is that Ash is a back in Kanto with the gang, they find this weird tower, Ash goes inside, there's a ghost named Arthur, he decides to switch bodies with Ash(and gives him the nick-name "Soot"), and then blahblahblah Misty ends up helping Ash get him out they kiss poof he's gone (for now, hence the sequel), end of story. Except, in the re-write, they don't end up confessing their love and kissing, so there's still that unresolved thing going on in this sequel. Oh yeah, and also in the re-write, instead of looking like an 11-year-old, Arthur looks like a 13-year-old, and doesn't have glasses. Because I decided he's cooler that way.

And that's all you need to know, really. DO NOT READ "Artie Ketchum"!!! YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!! IT CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!!!

Anyway, here's some more background that you need for the story, actually: So Ash stayed in Kanto, him and Misty hang out from time to time, and now they've decided to visit Sinnoh together, and…well, that's what they're doing. I've also made up a new city in Sinnoh, called Petalvine city. Because this is my story, and therefore I am God. Woah. Now that I realize that I feel a strange sense of…power. I can make anything happen here! I AM RULER OF THIS WORLD!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!! …Not that I can really do anything fun without making this a really crappy story. =(

Oh well! Let's just cut to the ages: Ash is 17, Misty is 18, Dawn is 14, and Paul is 18.

Now it's time to finally get to the actually story! Finally!  
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Chapter 1

"Ash?"

"Yes, Misty?"

"Could you please tell me why you said earlier that I might not like this forest?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, it's got a bunch of bugs in it."

"B-bugs?" Misty said, some fear starting to show on her face.

"Yeah," Ash replied, continuing through the forest. "They're all over the place."

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"Could we go a little faster?"

Ash laughed. "Don't worry, Misty, I'll make sure none of those scary little wurmple kill you."

Misty frowned. "Don't you get sarcastic with me, Ash Ketchum-I still have my mallet, you know." Ash just laughed. Misty decided that she would let him live…for now.

After a few more minutes of walking, which were silent, save for the normal sounds of the surrounding forest, Misty spoke.

"A-Ash?"

"What now, Misty?" Ash turned around to see that Misty had frozen dead in her tracks.

"Is there something on my leg?"

"Hmm…" Ash knelt down next to Misty's leg to see a small wurmple crawling up her right leg. "Man, why do all these bugs like you so much? Well, I suppose you do look a lot like them…"

"Hardy har har," Misty said in a sarcastic tone. "I swear, the minute you get this bug off of me, I am going to whack you into next week."

"Well then," Ash said, standing up and grinning, "I guess I should probably not get it off you, huh?"

"Wh-what?" Misty said, hoping that she hadn't heard right.

"Well, if you're going to hit me with that mallet of yours right after I take that wurmple off of your leg, I probably should do that if I don't want to get whacked."

"Ash, now I'm going to whack you even harder…"

"Really? You were already going to whack me into next week."

"Well, then I'll whack you into next _year_!" Misty screamed at Ash, getting seriously enraged now. What made her even angrier was how much entertainment Ash seemed to be getting out of all this.

"Okay, fine, I'll help you out," Ash said, "but I'm afraid I'm going to need you to take off your shirt?"

"What!?!" Misty yelled. "No way! Why the hell do I have to take off my shirt, anyway!?!"

"Well, because," Ash said, "that wurmple just crawled down it."

Misty just stood there for a few moments, and then screamed louder than ever and started scrambling about, trying to get the wurmple off and away from her, with Ash laughing hysterically the whole time. After a few seconds she stopped, Ash still laughing.

"Did I get it!?!"

"Yeah," Ash said, still chuckling a bit, "except it wasn't really in your shirt. It was just on your head."

WHAM!!!!! Misty slammed Ash so hard with her mallet that he actually went flying a few feet and slammed right into a tree. It actually took him a few seconds just to regain consciousness, and it took him almost five minutes to finally get up-even when he did, he was still sort of wobbly.

"Damn…" he said, leaning against the tree he had slammed into for support. "You weren't kidding when you said you would do it hard…"

"I swear, if you _ever _even _think _about pulling a stunt like that again, I'll hit you ten times as hard as that!"

"Thanks for the heads up, Mist," Ash said, rubbing the bump on his head where Misty's mallet had hit him.

And so the two continued walking, Ash making sure this time to carefully help Misty out any time a bug crawled close to her. When the two of them finally began nearing the end of the forest, Misty began picking up pace considerably, eventually breaking into a full out run, which Ash actually found fairly difficult to keep up with.

Then, finally, Ash and Misty ran straight out of the forest and into open air.

"YES!!!" Misty screamed punching both her fists into the air triumphantly, as if she had just won a war. She then began spinning around with her arms out, amazingly glad to be out in the open again. Ash just stood, watched, and smiled. For some reason seeing Misty so happy made him just as happy. After a few minutes, Misty stopped spinning around, noticed Ash standing there, smiling at her, and blushed a little, apparently embarrassed by her previous behavior.

"Um…"

"I can't believe it," Ash said, walking up to Misty.

"What?"

"For a minute there, you actually acted like a girl."

Misty simple just smiled. "Well, don't get used to it."

Ash smiled back. "Don't worry," he said. "I know better than that."

He then turned and saw that they were standing on a small cliff of lush, green grass that overlooked a city. It was midday now, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky, shedding a beautiful light down over the view in front of them. The city seemed to glow in the light.

"It's beautiful," Misty said, looking out over the city.

"Yeah…" Ash said-but he wasn't looking at the city anymore. He was looking at Misty. She looked absolutely gorgeous standing there in the sunlight. Her bright orange hair was flowing gracefully in the wind, her wide, emerald eyes shining brightly, her skin glowing. Ash could hardly believe that this was his friend Misty, the scrawny girl who had fished him out of that lake when he was ten. She looked nothing like the old Misty anymore.

Misty looked at Ash and blushed brightly when she noticed that he was staring at her. "Ash?"

Ash snapped out of his trance at the sound of his name and his face turned pink. "Uh…yes?"

"Do you think we should go down there?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure," Ash said. And so, the two of them made their way down the cliff to the city. Once they arrived, they saw a large sign just outside of it: WELCOME TO PETALVINE CITY.

"Petalvine," Ash said aloud, reading the sign.

"You heard of it?" Misty asked.

"No," Ash said. "Probably because there's no gym here."

"Probably," Misty said, and the two walked into the city.

Petalvine City was a busy place. There were shops and restaurants all over the place, and people bustling about everywhere in the streets, some with shopping bags, some with briefcases, but one thing was for certain: everybody was headed somewhere. Ash and Misty actually got lost from each other in the crowd once or twice, but they managed to get back together relatively quickly.

"What are you we looking for anyway!?!" Misty yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"Lunch!" Ash yelled back. "I'm hungry!"

"Ash, you're _always _hungry! Plus, there have been restaurants everywhere ever since we walked into this city!"

"Yeah, but not any _good_ ones!"

Misty sighed as the two of them continued pushing their way through the crowded streets. Finally, Ash found a place that he liked, and the two stopped for lunch there. While eating, the topic came up of what they should do while they were in Petalvine City.

"Well, we don't really know what there _is_ to do here!" Ash said.

"Then we could ask someone. I mean, do you know anyone who lives here?"

"No. I told you, I didn't even know this place existed until we found it. And we can't just go up to some random stranger on the street and ask them what there is to do here."

"Oh, sure you could!" somebody said, taking a seat by their table. "The response would just probably be 'Who the hell are you?'". So, instead, how about you let the stranger go up to you? I know plenty of things to do here!"

"Who the hell are you?" Ash and Misty both said in unition. The person looked to be a high-school age boy, with medium-length, dirty blonde hair, and was wearing a bright red T-shirt, light blue jeans, and a navy blue baseball cap. Misty noticed that his right hand was missing a pinkie and ring finger.

"I'm Niles. Niles McGee." That was when Ash noticed a young girl who appeared to be the boys age, and with him, looking a bit embarrassed by his outgoingness.

"Dawn!?!" Ash said, staring at her. Everyone turned to look at her.

"No way…" she said. "Ash? Ash Ketchum?"

"Yeah!" Ash said, grinning. "Wow, it's great to see you again!"

"Great to see you too!" Dawn then turned to Misty. "Oh, hi, you must be Misty!"

"Hi!" Misty said, an obviously (at least to Ash) fake smile on her face. "And you're Dawn! Ash has told me a lot about you!"

"Yeah, same here!"

"Excuse me!!!" Niles yelled, causing everybody to fall silent. "Dawn, just who the hell are these people?"

"Oh, right. Niles, this is my friend Ash Ketchum and his friend Misty Waterflower. They're pokémon trainers. Ash, Misty, this is my friend Niles McGee. He's a trainer too."

"Thank you," Niles said. "Now, as I was saying, I know plenty of stuff you two can do while you're here. In fact, you could come with me tonight-"

"Oh, Niles," Dawn interrupted, "please don't try to drag _them _into that! The only reason _I'm _coming is because I'm worried for you!"

"Why?" Ash said, getting curious.

"Yeah," said Misty, "what are you two doing tonight?"

Dawn sighed. "Niles wants to go up to the Manson Mansion."

"The Manson Mansion?" Misty asked.

"Yeah," Niles said. "It's the mansion up on a hill near this city. Everybody thinks its haunted, and I want to go see what's up with it."

"And _I_," Dawn said, "do not think it's a very good idea. In fact, I think it's a very _bad _idea."

"And why's that?" Ash asked.

"Well," Niles said, "people have gone into the Manson Mansion before."

"And…?" Misty said, though she and Ash both new pretty well what the answer was going to be before they even asked the question.

"…None of them ever came back," Dawn finished.  
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Okay! Sorry if that chapter seemed to end a little abruptly, I just felt that I needed to end it before we went too far into the story. Anyway, be sure to review and tell me what you think!!! I'll try to update more often from now on, just be sure to REVIEW!!!

And by the way, I want you to know that if there's something you don't like about the story you can say so! I'd gladly change anything that you guys think just isn't working out! After all, it's all about entertaining you guys, really!


	2. Chapter 2

Well, no reviews so far. Oh well. Guess I'll just keep on writing, and wait for them to come.

Oh yeah, and I've noticed that I put the age of Paul in the intro to the first chapter. That's because I was at first going to have him in the story, but then decided not to. But, I suppose since I had his age there, I could put him back in. Yeah, okay! I'll do that!  
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Chapter 2

"So, Niles, is there some sort of story behind the Manson Mansion?" Misty asked later that day when she, Niles, Dawn, and Ash were all hanging out in the park.

"Not much of one," Niles said. "David Manson lived in there, he was really rich, and then one day he was found dead-neck slit open. The murder weapon was left too, and the fingerprints were his own, so it must have been a suicide."

"How long has it been since Mr. Manson died?" Ash asked.

"Around three years," said Niles.

"…And you said that sixteen people have gone up there?"

Niles nodded. "People stopped going up around a year ago-everybody's afraid of that place now."

"Have the police ever gone up there to check things out?" Misty asked.

"Well, of course," Niles said. "Seven of those sixteen were police officers."

"Wow…" Ash said. "Sixteen people…and no bodies ever turned up?"

Niles shook his head. "Most people think everyone who went up there is dead, but some think a few of them may still be alive."

"So, tell me again why you want to go up there?" Ash asked.

"Niles is a science nerd," Dawn said.

"Geek!" Niles exclaimed. "I told you, I am a science _geek_! Not nerd! Nerd implies that I have no friends and spend all day reading comic books and playing Call of Duty."

"Anyway," Dawn continued, "he wants to find a 'scientific explanation' for all the disappearances up in that house. He doesn't believe in ghosts or spirits or the afterlife, so he wants to figure out what's really going on up there."

"Exactly," Niles said. "There has to be some logical reason for all this, and I want to figure out what it is! I mean, it's easy to make houses _seem _haunted! There was an entire episode of _The Mentalist_ about that!"

"I don't know…" Misty said. "I'm starting to take Dawn's side here. If sixteen people have disappeared up there…"

"Misty, if everybody keeps on thinking like that, nobody will ever go back up to the Manson Mansion ever again, and we'll never figure out what's really happening!"

"But Niles," Dawn said, "what if what people think is happening _is _what's really happening?"

"Dawn, please," Niles said, "this has happened before. People say 'Oh, this place is haunted, because we heard weird noises coming from it,' when all the time it's just a family of squirrels."

"Yeah, but Niles," Dawn said, "squirrels don't cause sixteen people to disappear."

"Well, I'm going," Misty said, "but only for the same reason as Dawn-I'm worried for you two."

"Well, then, I'm going too!" Ash said. "For that exact same reason!"

"Okay! Great!" Niles said, grinning. "I don't care what your reason is-as long as you're coming, I'm happy! The more the merrier."

Niles stopped, looking over Ash's shoulder at something. "Speaking of which…" He stood up and jogged over to a familiar blue-haired trainer.

"Oh no," Ash said.

"Is that the guy who-?" Misty said.

"Yes."

"Oh, well," Dawn said, raising her eyebrows, "I don't really care if _he _comes. He deserves to be trapped in a haunted house."

"Ditto," Ash said.

"You guys!" Misty, who had not met Paul and was therefore shocked by Ash and Dawn's apparent lack of concern, exclaimed.

After a few minutes of talking to Paul, Niles walked back over to the others, leaving Paul looking rather irritated.

"Well, we've got another team member!" He exclaimed cheerfully.

"No way," Dawn said in awe.

"You actually got him to come?" Ash said. "How?"

"Oh, it didn't take much. I just said that if he didn't, I would make chicken sounds every single time he was around. If there's one thing that guy can't stand, it's humiliation."

"Wow," Ash said thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could get him to kick a sleeping Arcanine that way…"

"Okay, fine," Dawn said. "So Paul and all of us are going into the Manson Mansion. I still think we should at least wait until morning to do it."

"Why?" Niles said. "I don't want to have to wait _that _long!"

"It's only an extra night," Misty said. "And besides, Dawn's right. Everything bad always seems to happen at nighttime."

"Whatever," Niles said. "But I don't want any of you wimping out, or else I'll make chicken sounds every time _you're _around."

"Understood," Ash said.

"Say, Niles…" Misty said.

"I know what you're wondering," Niles said. "Don't worry, I don't mind at all if you ask. You want to know why I'm missing two fingers, don't you?" Niles held up his three-fingered right hand. Misty nodded.

"Well, that," Niles said, "is a _very _strange story."

"That it is," Dawn said. "You see, it all happened around three years ago. A few days before Mr. Manson died. Niles and I were playing with each other one day…"

_…………………….._

"Alright, alright!" Niles said, stopping in the middle of the street, leaning on his knees and gasping for breath. "I give up!"

"Yeah!" Dawn said, stopping behind him, also gasping to fill her empty lungs with fresh air. "Me too!"

"What were you chasing me for again?" Niles asked.

"Um…" Dawn said. "I forget."

"Oh," Niles said. "Well, I'm sure it'll come back to one of us."

"It's not safe to play in the streets, you know."

Both Niles and Dawn turned to see a 13-year-old boy standing in the middle of the road. He was wearing a grey T-shirt, blue jeans, and dark blue sneakers, with slightly long, messy brown hair. He was looking at them with a slightly frightening expression, his thick eyebrows tilting just centimeters toward each other.

"People could get…hurt."

All three children just stood there for about a minute, and then all of the sudden, as if they had been sliced by a dagger, two of Niles' fingers fell off. He grabbed his own wrist and let out a huge yell of pain..

"Niles!" Dawn yelled, running up beside Niles, eyes wide with fear and concern, Nile's hand now spilling out a small puddle of blood.

And then the boy spoke again, except that his voice was different this time. It was not the voice of a 13-year-old boy. It was deeper, and more gravely.

"…Like that."

_End of flashback_

"…and then he was gone," Dawn said. "Niles got rushed the emergency room, but we never saw that boy again."

Niles nodded. "Dawn has wondered before if that event may be connected to Mr. Manson's death, but I don't think so. I mean, the guy committed suicide. How could that have anything to do with what happened then?"

"Yeah, but Niles," Dawn said, "what if it _wasn't _suicide? What if the house was haunted before he died?"

"Dawn, the fingerprints on the knife belonged to him."

"Yes, I know, Niles. But you'd be surprised the kind of stuff ghosts are supposed to be able to do."

"Ghosts." Niles gave Dawn a "You've-got-to-be-kidding-me" look.

"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but what if ghosts really do exist?"

"Then we'll find out tomorrow," Niles said, in a tone of finality that showed he was ending this argument.  
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Ash and Misty slept in a motel that night. Unfortunately, there was only one bed, so they one of them had to sleep on the couch. They flipped for the bed, and Ash didn't call heads until the coin had already landed on it. Then Misty reminded him that the way they always did it, the loser got what they were flipping for. Ash grumpily set up a pillow and blanket on the couch, Misty laying comfortably on her bed watching, and then they realized that it was only 7:03, and therefore too early to go to bed.

So they played a couple board games, and now it was Ash's turn to smirk. Misty was absolutely horrible at board games. Ash suggested that this was why she hated them so much, and Misty replied that the reason she hated board games so much was that she just didn't get the same satisfaction out of pummeling chess pieces after they captured her queen, and preferred to beat people up in real life. Ash merely replied with "Whatever", and continued playing.

After what seemed like only 15 minutes, it was 9:32, and Ash and Misty headed for bed. Misty fell asleep almost instantly, but Ash found something keeping him awake. Something about the boy that Dawn had described seemed familiar, but he couldn't figure out why. Where had he seen someone like that before?

Right at that moment, the phone rang. Misty didn't even move, being a very heavy sleeper. So Ash just rolled off the couch and answered it.

"Hello?"

"So, you're coming to my place tomorrow, huh?"

Ash almost dropped the phone in a mix of shock and fear (mostly fear).

"Who is this?"

"That, my good boy, is not something that you really need to know. As I was saying, you're coming to my place tomorrow."

"Only if this call is coming from the Manson Mansion."

"So you are! Fantastic! I'll be sure to give you a very…special welcome.

"Sweet dreams."  
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And that's the end of the chapter! Now, I know that there are at least two people reading this now, so please! REVIEW!


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